Hey All,
Here is our members only club house, our very own "So You Think You Can Dissertate" blog.
For our first posts, I'd like to suggest we share our dissertation timeline...where are you now? Where do you want to be in December? April? Next summer?
Also, it may be that some of us work better under a deadline. Since we don't have any real deadlines, if anyone wants to suggest one to the group, then we can hold you accountable for it (i.e. if you miss it, you owe us something NICE, lol). So, for example, I want to have a first (rough) draft of chapter 1 done by the end of August. Let's say September 1st. So, if I don't post some sort of draft here to this blog I owe you!
If anyone else has other suggestions for how this blog can be helpful, share with the group!
Jenn
Posts
Model of Early Findings
15 years ago
6 comments:
Hello, everybody.
I was trying to find a dissertation proposal sample today and then I remembered the blog... Do you guys happen to have a link for that?
I guess this answers your question, Jen. I will be drafting the proposal in the next few weeks (now I'm scrambling to put something together for class, but I'll have to do it for "real" thing in the next few weeks anyhow). Then I'll work on the first three chapters--but not before I play with my cats for about two weeks...
So, who has that dissertation proposal link?
Ana
I don't know about a link, but I've been using Maxwell's chapter and his sample proposal as a guide.
Hi, All:
First, I'm sorry, Ana, but since I'm completing the paper instead, all my energy is devoted there, so I haven't found a proposal sample.
Second, Jenn, I like your idea of keeping each other on task. Perhaps we all have separate, "context-specific" (how postmodern) deadlines, but in the act of sharing, we enlist the others to help keep ourselves on task.
So where am I in this process? I feel a bit too far behind. I have to go up to my study site after this week; also, I have to select a chair and contact my outside reader/expert for help in narrowing a topic. Once that's done, I'd like to have my first three chapters started, at least, by the end of Summer I next year.
So there you have it...help keep me on task!
P.S. Minerva (my kitty cat) is starting to recover; she's acting more like herself. But she's not eating voluntarily, so we're force-feeding her. Who knew how powerful a 5-pound animal could be! Oh, how we worry about our pets!
Yes, Maxwell! I'll definitely use that as a model for the final proposal. I need to make a copy of that chaper before I return the book to the library. Thanks for reminding me about that, Jen.
I think I asked our course instructor, though, if I can use that model for this course and I seem to remember that she said no--that I need to follow the model on the graduate school web site, but then I could not find this model anywhere.
My problem is that I seem to have issues remembering stuff :) so maybe my memory is playing tricks on me. I'm going to ask the instructor on Monday what she wants the proposal to look like.
Melissa-I really hope your kittycat will be fine. I really do!
Ana
I know she mentioned this dissertation manual:
http://www.iup.edu/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=40347
We have to format whatever we turn in for the last paper using the margins, etc., specified by this manual, i.e. as if this was our dissertation.
There is a sample topic proposal on page 36 and 27 of the manual. I've cut and pasted it here:
Title: Routine Activities of Mental Health Workers and Patterns of Criminal Victimization
Brief Summary of Research Topic & Methods
The National Crime Victimization Survey for 1992-96 found that over two million violent victimizations occurred each year to persons in the U.S. while they were at work (Warchol, 1998). While violence in the workplace has become an issue of great concern, empirical studies to date are limited (Labig, 1995; Madriz, 1996; Nigro & Waugh, 1996). The purpose of this study is to add to the current body of knowledge by gaining a better understanding of violence in the workplace. Specifically, this study will examine the routine activities of employees who work in the field of mental health and the subsequent role that their routines may play in varying patterns of criminal victimization. The research will focus on a particular type of workplace violence, that is, violence caused by clients (Capozzoli & McVey, 1996; Peek-Asa, Schaffer, Kraus, & Howard, 1998).
Routine Activities Theory (Cohen & Felson, 1979) will be used as the theoretical framework of this study. As stated previously, the research will involve an examination of the day-to-day work activities of mental health workers and the subsequent role that their routines may play in varying rates of criminal victimization. The study will be primarily quantitative and data will be collected via a questionnaire. The sample will be comprised of mental health workers who work in outpatient services and have direct contact with mentally ill clients. In addition, the research will also include a small qualitative component involving short interviews conducted with employees, observations at various research sites, and document analysis. The qualitative component will supplement the quantitative portion, and will provide detailed, background information.
36
37
Materials & Equipment –No special materials or equipment except for the data collection instruments.
Time Frame
(1)
Submit proposal--February 2007
(2)
Defend proposal & submit IRB protocol--March 2007
(3)
Data collection--Begin April 2007
(4)
First draft of dissertation--December 2007
(5)
Defend dissertation – February 2008
(6)
Submit final dissertation – April 2008
References
Capozzoli, T., & McVey, R. S. (1996). Managing violence in the workplace. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press.
Cohen, L., & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44 (August), 588-608.
Labig, C. (1995). Preventing violence in the workplace. New York: Amacom.
Madriz, E. (1996). The perception of risk in the workplace: A test of routine activity theory. Journal of Criminal Justice, 24 (5), 407(12).
Nigro, L., & Waugh, W. (1996). Violence in the american workplace: Challenges to the public employer. Public Administration Review, 56 (4), 326-333.
Peek-Asa, C., Schaffer, K. B., Kraus, J. F., & Howard, J. (1998). Surveillance of non-fatal workplace assault injuries, using police and employers’ reports. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 40 (8), 707(7).
Warchol, G. (1998). Workplace Violence, 1992-1996 (NCJ Publication No. 168634). Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
However, this is the abbreviated version we give our committee eventually. She wants the longer one, of which there is no model in this manual. It was my understanding that they don't all look exactly the same, but they do all state the rationale for the project (why), mention research questions, give a brief overview of the existing literature, and then a brief discussion of methods for data collection and methods for analysis (how). Plus a timeline for completion.
Jenn
Wow! Thanks for the info, Jen. I owe you a coffee.
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